As a kid, Jayden Curtis wasn’t chasing PBs or podium finishes - he was burning up the grass in pursuit of a soccer ball.
Athletics sat quietly in the background until he realised, almost by accident, he was actually pretty good.
“I did Little Athletics as a kid, and I kind of gave it up for a bit and just played soccer,” Curtis said.
“Then I ran once at school, made nationals that year, and was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m pretty good at this.”
The 18-year-old from Caboolture is now preparing for the biggest race of his young career, the Junior Australian Athletics Championships in Brisbane this week.
He describes the 400 metres as one of the most punishing events in athletics.
“You sprint the first 200, and then you kind of die the next 200,” he said.
But along with his honesty, he does have a strategy.
“The first 100m is about getting out strong but staying controlled, then the next 150m is positioning yourself, and the last 150m is just everything you’ve got left.”
Now in his first semester at Bond University studying a Bachelor of Construction Management and Quantity Surveying, Curtis is learning to balance training and university life.
“Some weeks are a bit hectic,” he said.
“Like the past two weeks, I swear I did not put my head up once, training, gym, a bit of soccer, and then it was like study, study, study.”
Curtis qualified for nationals after placing third at the State Championships, just one thousandth of a second behind first place.
Now, he’s going up against athletes running in the 46-second range, while his personal best sits at 48.
“I reckon I could shave one second off,” he said.
“If I make finals, that’d be incredible.”
For the long term, Curtis has high hopes for his athletics career.
“Definitely try and make Olympic teams or Commonwealth teams and finally get into the 44s.” he said
His advice to others chasing similar dreams is simple.
“Just stay in it for the long game,” he said.
“It takes a long time, but it gets better the longer you stay. So just keep working towards it.”